Vision Logo Circle
Vision Logo Circle

Looking Back & Moving Ahead

by | Wed, Mar 9 2016

Text size: A- A+

The ANZAC spirit, Passover & creating a legacy for the next generation

Dear Friends,

I’m currently reviewing a book by a friend on the Spirit of the ANZAC. It explores our need to restore our nation to its former glory—to a time when our men and women gallantly and bravely defended our country from threat of evil tyranny.

Last year during Vision’s tour to Israel and Turkey we visited both the Australian War Memorial at Mount Scopus in Jerusalem and the infamous ANZAC Cove in Turkey’s
Gallipoli Peninsula.

It’s a strange feeling to be walking along rows and rows of tombstones marking the place where so many of our forbears paid the ultimate sacrifice. Some were only boys themselves, putting their bodies in harm’s way to defend King and country.

Yet Gallipoli has seen tens of thousands of our young people every year making a pilgrimage to these far away shores. I guess they are trying to connect with their roots, to understand what it really means to be ‘Australian’ and understand why their great-grandfathers and great uncles sacrificed all so we could enjoy the freedom and liberties we often take for granted.

Many different people have tried to define what the spirit of ANZAC is. Some have said it’s a myth, others even criticised its origins as an excuse for bad behaviour unbecoming an officer of the King’s army.

More recently, Arthur Bourke OAM pointed to the spirit of ANZAC as not confined to the battlefield, nor something that can be seen. He described it as:

‘a powerful driving sensation that can only be felt. It is a feeling that burns in the heart of every Australian and New Zealand countryman. A warm, tender, fiery, even melancholy ideal that nurtures intense patriotism in the innermost soul of everybody.’

We still see it today. Come cyclone, flood, bushfire or earthquake, Aussies and Kiwis will band together to rescue, provide food, comfort and shelter, and look out for every victim.

But I also believe that there might be a deeper, more spiritual meaning as well.

When we consider some of the extraordinary feats of courage under fire I can’t help but see the divine hand of providence at work. How this young colony endured the cauldron of war and came out a nation. How the youngest nation was used to deliver the oldest nation (Israel) from 400 years of Ottoman Islamic occupation and by doing so earned our place in fulfilling Biblical prophecy.

To this day as we walk around Israel we are greeted by those who know the rich legacy of those brave young ANZAC larrikins who helped save the day.

This year ANZAC Day falls very closely in line with Passover—Israel’s ancient feast of remembrance—signifying two important points of liberation. Once under pharaoh, and then later the final sacrificial lamb in the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ who laid down his life for a ransom for us all.

It was Jesus who said:

‘Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.’ John 15:13 NASB

Let’s take time to stop and reflect on what a great salvation our Lord has paid for us. And also for the great sacrifice and legacy our ANZAC brothers and sisters made in securing for us the enduring legacy we enjoy today.

Thank you for joining me and our Vision team in reaching the next generation with a message of hope and encouragement found only in Jesus. Together we can see them continue to prosper and stand strong, and even if the Lord tarries, we will pass our nation’s proud Christian legacy on to the next generation too.

In His strong and mighty name

Ian Worby
Regional Director — Australia, Asia Pacific

‘…so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.’ Psalm 78:6–7 NIV